Harry Potter and the Tide of War
by Seratin
Summary: Harry's sixth year at Hogwarts is about to begin. After he learns of the prophecy, he realises that he will have to grow stronger in order to turn the tide of war. H/Padma. On Hiatus
1. The begining

Disclaimer: Nothing is mine , I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does.

**Harry potter and the tide of war**

A cool breeze stirred around Privet Drive. The leaves on every identical hedge shivered. A cool breeze was nothing out of the ordinary on Privet Drive, if it was, the residents committee would no doubt do everything in their power to get it banned.

What was out of the ordinary was a tall man in black robes flanked by two unknown associates walking regally down the street at midnight.

The man stopped suddenly and extended a long skeletal arm. He appeared as if he was caressing the very air before him.

He turned to the companion on his right.

'I can feel the wards Bella, they will be no challenge'

Bellatrix felt his cold blood red stare and suppressed a shiver.

'of course not my lord, never for you my lord'

He reached into his robes and pulled out a long serpentine dagger. Slowly tracing it across his palm, he exerted enough pressure to draw a trickle of blood. He imprinted his palm on his brow and hissed an incantation. The street was bathed in a ruby red glow.

'Come' he hissed, 'it is time'

The snakelike figure of Lord Voldemort strode in the direction of number four. With a casual flick of his wand he dispatched of the slumbering form of Hestia Jones. The Dark Lord paced up the driveway and with a wave of his wand unlocked the door.

Harry Potter lay on his bed in number four Privet Drive. Sleep eluded him not for the first time this summer.

He had expected the anger, he had expected the sense of loss, he had expected the self pity. What he didn't expect was to be over it so soon. Sirius was a great part of his life, but in all of two years he had a grand total of six real conversations with the man. It made him feel ashamed that he wasn't a complete emotional wreck but the simple truth was he didn't have time to drown himself is sorrow.

The prophecy had hit him hard, but in a sense he wasn't all that surprised. His whole wizarding life had always come back to the one problem. Voldemort. The name made his head spin with rage. He was the root of it all, and Harry was determined to get at least some semblance of revenge.

There lay the problem, Voldemort was extremely powerful and infinitely more experienced than himself.

He needed to train, he needed to learn, he needed to find out what that bloody "power he knows not" business was.

Harry sat up on the bed and sighed, 'looks as though we wont get any sleep tonight either Hedwig'. The owl in question looked up and hooted reproachfully before nestling back under her wing. Harry chuckled and reached for a Defence book that Hermione had bought him.

His uncle was a lot more malleable to his wishes after his welcome party at the station. Harry inwardly laughed at the memory of Vernon trying to keep calm at the idea of being seen in public with such…..distasteful people.

Vernon and Petunia had decided that an early birthday present for Dudley was in order so they had reluctantly left Harry on his own in number four. This suited Harry fine as he got to watch the T.V without a hulking behemoth shoving him of the couch for only the third time in his life.

He was halfway through a chapter about "questionable" curses when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a bright red flash coming from the direction of the park. He cautiously looked out the window when he saw a flash of emerald green.

'_blood wards my arse Dumbledore' _

Harry snatched his wand and invisibility cloak and crept downstairs intent on escaping out the back door. He was at the foot of the stairs when the front door swung open revealing a very familiar serpentine face.

Harry's only thought was '_oh bugger'_.


	2. Empty walls

Disclaimer; I don't own Harry Potter, JKR does

The first chapter was a little short, my only excuse for that is I wanted to get a foothold on the story. In future I will try to make the chapters a bit longer than 600 odd words.

Any update delays from now on will be because I like to keep a couple of chapters ahead.

Empty Walls

'Hello Harry' hissed the bloodcurdling voice he knew so well, the voice of Lord Voldemort.

'_Brilliant_' thought Harry '_another one who can see through cloaks, just what I need right now' _'Hello Voldemort, how have you been?, been up to any fun dark lord type stuff lately?'

Voldemort smirked 'Bella, Zabini, wait outside and make sure we are not interrupted. As the two death eaters left Voldemort grinned maliciously 'You dare to mock me? Such bravery, it could almost be commendable if it were not so foolish, as it is I feel obligated to put you through an enormous amount of pain before I end your pitiful life, why make it worse for yourself? Kneel to me and I will end it quickly, I shall have victory this day.'

While Voldemort was getting his little rant out of the way Harry was desperately searching for an escape route. He quickly came up with a plan, 'well as fun as this banter has been' Harry yawned 'I really must be off'

'_Reducto' _cast Harry, while diving to the left.

'_Avada kedavra' _screamed Voldemort, intent on not letting his prey slip away. Harry dodged the killing curse as his Reducto slammed into Petunia's favourite vase sending shards of jagged porcelain careening into Riddle's face. Harry scrambled up and ran through the kitchen, he heard Voldemort cast a nasty sounding hex and felt the shards of plaster impact him as the spell tore through the wall. The distant sound of apparition informed him that Aurors had been dispatched at the detection of an unforgivable.

'_Ossis fractumis'_ Harry roared while pointing through the newly formed doorway at Voldemort's approaching form.

The Dark Lord coolly deflected the bone breaking curse and let loose with it's dark equivalent, '_Ossis fragento'_ Harry dove out of the way and bit back a scream as he felt the bone shattering curse rip through his left foot. Harry turned and shouted '_Lumos Solarum'_ a sunburst of white light emitted from his wand searing Voldemort's eyes and sending him stumbling back. Pressing the advantage, Harry cast '_stupefy' , _Voldemort batted it away and regained his footing. Harry used the time to blow the backdoor of its hinges and stumble into the yard.

The first thing he noticed was that running on one foot is exceedingly difficult, the second was the apparent lack of spellfire. He rounded the side of the house in time to miss being crushed by number fours entire rear wall which was now sitting some twenty metres away courtesy of Voldemort's explosion curse. The view that greeted him at the front of the house was two middle aged ministry workers duelling for their lives while Lestrange and Zabini toyed with them.

'_Aurors? They sent Hopkirks men…… right, this is turning out to be a really crap night'_

Harry roared '_stupefy' _and watched as Zabini slumped to the ground. Lestrange turned and a maniacal grin formed on her face , '_icle Harrykins come out to play with aunty Bella?'_. Rage twisted Harry's face. He stepped forward and screamed '_**Bataere ignus'**_ Bellatrix's face was a mask of shock as she hastily tried to erect a shield to block the curse. It failed. The shield shattered and the flaming cannonball hit her in the side as she tried to dodge sending her soaring back with an ungraceful twist. She landed with a sickening thud. Harry turned to the ministry workers…. who being ministry workers were already gone. 'Very good shot Harry' ……'_Crucio_' Harry grunted as the curse hit him and fell to the ground. He cried out as the full power of Voldemort's cruciatus curse came into effect. White hot knives danced in his veins, his flesh slowly peeled from his bones, the pain was blinding him. The little he could see from his position on the ground was fading into a white mist. '_So this is it, after all the last few years has thrown at me this is it……the dark lord will mark him as his equal………either must die at the hand of the other………as the seventh month dies………__**no**__……__**I**__…__**must WIN…**_'. The sheer force of the magic Harry threw outwards at Voldemort astounded himself, and judging by the shocked expression of the Dark Lord lying on the ground several feet away, astounded Voldemort too. A split second staring contest between the two wizards was interrupted by the telltale cracking noise of apparition.

Albus Dumbledore was having a bad day. The Wizingamot was in uproar. The fact that six hogwarts students could break into the most secure department in the ministry baffled them. The fact that living proof of the return of the most feared Dark Lord this century was displayed before their very eyes really baffled them. The fact that one of the Ministers lunchbuddies was among the Death Eaters captured confounded them. Yes it was a very bad day for Albus Dumbledore.

The vote of no confidence was taking longer than expected. Fudge was clinging onto his job by the skin of his crooked yellowing teeth, and every day he diverted more funds into swaying public opinion back his way. Dumbledore knew it would not be long before the dementors abandoned Azkaban, since the incident at the ministry he had been trying to convince Fudge to move the prisoners of Azkaban to a more secure facility. Fudge was adamant though that Azkaban was the best place for them.

He feebly waved his wand over one of the silver instruments that Harry had taking a disliking to after the death of Sirius and sighed, whatever Harry broke seemed to stay broken.

He was interrupted from his musings when his fireplace suddenly roared into life. The flustered face of Amelia Bones appeared amongst the green flames. 'Ah, Amelia, to what do I owe this fine pleasure ?'. 'Albus, quickly two containment of underage magic officers just reported an attack on Private Drive. I'm dispatching the Aurors now'. Dumbledore paled , he jumped up, snatched the silver trinket and muttered '_portus'._

A jerk behind his navel and within seconds he was standing in the front yard of number four. The site that greeted him was not one he expected. A heavily bleeding Bellatrix Lestrange lay at his feet, while another Death Eater was slumped on the ground a few metres away. What he was really interested in though was the sight of Harry Potter lashing out with wild magic and hurling Tom Riddle a good eight feet away from him. Just as he was about to bind Riddle the sound of apparition filled the air. He saw Riddle assess the situation, realise he was surrounded and apparate away.

Dumbledore rushed over to the teenage figure lying in the middle of the street, 'Harry'….'Harry are you alright?' he asked desperately.

Harry raised his head, looked at Dumbledore and muttered 'Am I alright?, Remind me never to ask you for a crossword tip.'

'We had best get you to Madam Pomfrey, you are starting to rave' Dumbledore said gently.

Harry sighed and let the blackness envelop him.

Pain. The first of several signs telling Harry that he was indeed alive.

Harry gently let one eye slip open only to gasp and close it again as the unnatural brightness overloaded his retina. '_yep'_ Harry thought to himself '_definitely the hospital wing'. _He slowly opened both eyes and lifted his head just enough to look around. With a sigh he dropped his head back onto the pillow and tested out his left foot, it seemed to be in working order.

'_She must have had to use skele-gro, there wasn't enough bone left intact to mend' _

Harry sat up and looked around properly, he was surprised to see another occupant in the bed across from him. He didn't recognise the obviously female form at first but once his mind registered it properly he felt furious. He reached for his wand and was surprised to find that it wasn't on his bedside locker as per usual.

'Looking for this Harry?' Dumbledore spoke in a serene tone, 'even Bellatrix Lestrange has a right to medical attention, and once she is recovered she will be a useful source of information'

Harry suppressed his rage and took a calming breath, he couldn't deny the logic but it irked him to no end.

'May I have my wand back, _sir'_ Harry said as politely as he could, which given the circumstances wasn't much.

'Do I have your word that you wont try to harm Mrs Lestrange?' asked Dumbledore cheerfully.

'Fine' sighed Harry.

Dumbledore sat on the chair beside Harry's bed, handed him the wand and produced a little bowl.

'Lemon drop?' queried the old professor.

'Lemon drop?' repeated Harry incredulously. 'your asking me if I want a lemon drop after I'm forced to duel two death eaters and a dark lord because of your fuck up? What happened to those blood wards you insisted I was safe behind?

Dumbledore visibly winced 'Tom must have found a way to collapse them using the blood you now share, I must admit I didn't think it possible but…..I was mistaken, I beg your forgiveness Harry.'

Harry growled in frustration 'How long was I out? And who was that other death eater….Zabini, is it that Slytherin guys Dad?'

'Two days and alas no Harry', Dumbledore replied, 'Ignatius Zabini is the eldest brother of the Blaise Zabini whom you know, the ministry have detained him,'

'oh' Harry replied ' so why is the bitch still here?, shouldn't you have her in the dungeons pumped up to the eyeballs with veritaserum?'

Dumbledore chuckled 'that curse you hit her with packed quite the punch Harry, Poppy wants to keep her under observation for another while, I must ask you though where did you find that particular curse?'

Harry shrugged 'found it in an old defence book Hermione got me a while back, why?'

'It isn't a very widely known curse, I last saw it performed in the twenties but the damage it causes is quite distinctive'.

Harry started to think about what other gems could be found in that book when Dumbledore interrupted him, 'Do you want to tell me what happened when you were duelling Tom?'

'Not particularly' Harry replied 'but I suppose I don't have a choice do I?, I was just about to pass out when I remembered the prophecy. I realised that if I died right then, than Voldemort would have won. I wasn't too comfortable with that idea, so I just pushed. I felt my magic extend like an arm and slam into Voldemort. Next thing I know you're in front of me asking me a completely ridiculous question'.

Dumbledore sat quietly for a few seconds appearing to consider something 'Harry' he started 'I want you to consider taking a few extra lessons this year, I think it is high time I shared some of the knowledge I've been stockpiling away over the years'.

'Bout time' Harry growled, 'What will you be teaching me?'

'I plan to train you in advanced defence, transfiguration and charms, I also want you to take on arithmancy and ancient runes tutoring. You will have to drop the majority of normal classes and you may have to give up Quidditch. I will warn you now, I can be a demanding teacher. I will give you some time to think on it.

After a moment of silence, Harry said' I'll do it'.

'Are you sure?' replied Dumbledore,

'Yes, Professor?' Asked Harry ' Will I be going to Grimmauld tomorrow?'.

'No with Sirius's will up in the air security is questionable at best, The Weasleys, Mister Longbottom, Miss Lovegood and Miss Granger are staying in the castle, you will be able to see them tomorrow.

'Neville and Luna? What are they doing here?' asked Harry.

'There were certain security concerns after the ministry and after the attack at number four it was decided that it would be best if they were to stay in Hogwarts for the remainder of the summer. For now it would be prudent for you to get some rest, good evening Harry' replied Dumbledore.

Harry was left with a lot to think about. With one last glare at the motionless form across from him he turned over and went to sleep.


	3. End of an era

A/N: Hope you all like this chapter, thanks to banner for pointing out some errors in the last chapter. Review if you have time it helps a lot!

**End of an era**

Harry awoke to a pleasant sound. He opened his eyes, sat up in the bed and grinned as he watched the writhing form of Bellatrix Lestrange try to escape her magical restraints. The maniacal witch noticed the sudden movement and looked across at Harry with an unreadable expression.

'Potter' she hissed.

'Bellatrix' he replied frostily, ' I could kill you right now, I have my wand and you seem to be a bit tied up, fortunately for you I tend to keep my word, the next time I see you I will make you wish for some minor burns and a couple of broken ribs.

Harry threw up a privacy charm and got dressed. He cancelled the charm and on the way out turned to face Bellatrix 'have a nice stay….I'm sure the order will go easy on you, but I doubt the aurors will' leaving a suddenly nervous death eater in his wake, Harry strode out of the hospital wing in the direction of the great hall.

Bellatrix Lestrange had never been one to panic. When her lord vanished and his downfall had been proclaimed, she didn't panic. Even when she was surrounded by a dozen aurors after her fun with that bitch Alice Longbottom and her oaf of her husband, she didn't panic. Naturally having spent a lifetime without it, the feeling was strange to her. Lying restrained in Hogwarts hospital wing, the realisation that she might not serve her master again worried her, but not as much as realising that as she stared into those cold green eyes, for possibly the first time in her life, she panicked.

Harry walked quickly through the halls of Hogwarts. Even though he was the cause of it, he felt angry that Dumbledore had allowed that woman to stay in the hospital wing, the dungeons would have been much more appropriate.

Harry snorted '_Hogwarts certainly has enough of them'_ he thought to himself.

He thought back to the night of the attack, he didn't remember much, but what stood out vividly was the memory of the sickening crunch Bellatrix's ribs had emitted when his fireball had connected with her. Watching her soar through the air

had been exhilarating, he couldn't remember the last time he felt so alive. That was what worried him, he enjoyed causing her pain, so much that he was sure he could have performed a successful cruciatus if he had tried. He shook those thoughts away and tried to remember more of the attack. Dimly he remembered the fight with Voldemort inside the house _' fight?'_ Harry thought to himself _'m_ore _like trying desperately not to die'_.

He turned a corner and descended the staircase leading to the entrance hall. At the bottom of the stairs he stopped abruptly, _'what happened to the Dursleys?, probably a quick memory charm from the Obliviators . What happened to Hedwig? Il have to ask Dumbledore about her'_ . Harry resumed walking towards the great hall inwardly chuckling at Petunia's face when she saw her perfect house in pieces.

The site that greeted Harry in the hall was a strange one. Instead of the house and staff tables there was one long table at which sat the Weasleys, Kingsley Shacklebolt, Tonks, Moody, Hermione and Luna. Kingsley and Tonks were talking quietly and sneaking looks at Moody. Moody was of course the first to see him, greeting him with a rough bark which for some reason sent Tonks into a fit of giggles and made Mrs Weasley cluck disapprovingly. The rest of the table took notice and greeted him in various different ways. Predictably Hermione and Mrs Weasley both jumped up and tried to smother him while asking if he was alright, Harry assured them he was fine and took a place at the table between Ron and Luna, where he realized what Tonks was laughing at Moody smelt like a brewery.

'Hello' Ron muttered darkly while playing with his eggs.

'You know, trying to act surly while there is literally egg on your face doesn't work Ronald' chimed Luna

'Huh, egg?' asked Ron thickly while quickly trying to wipe his face.

Harry stifled a grin 'what's wrong with you today? I should be the one acting angry and depressed right now'

'Nothing' mumbled Ron who proceeded to get up from the table and storm out of the hall in a very Snape like manner, with Hermione and Ginny hot on his heels.

Harry helped himself to a plate of bacon and eggs and turned to question Luna,

'What's wrong with Ron? He asked.

'Inferiority complex, take a look at this mornings Prophet, the story only just broke today' Luna replied happily.

'what?' Harry asked as he reached for the copy of the Prophet lying on the table, 'oh shit' he moaned as he read the main headline.

_**You-know-who attacks Boy-who-lived**_

Below the headline was a moving picture of himself and Voldemort lying several feet apart in the middle of Privet Drive, the picture showed Voldemort stagger to his feet, look around wildly and dissaparate away. The article was mostly speculation focused on exactly how the two came to be in that position. Several aurors who were interviewed claimed to have witnessed a spectacular duel between the two which ended in a standstill, when in reality the aurors saw nothing. The only real facts, were the statements made by the two underage magic officers who claimed that Harry had smashed Bellatrix's shield and sent her flying after stunning Zabini.

The next few pages proclaimed Harry as "the chosen one who will lead us out of the darkness and into the light".

Harry suppressed his rage which was directed surprisingly not at the Prophet but at Ron. _'He's jealous again…after all of last year… after Sirius, after Voldemort once again almost killed me the prat's jealous'._

Harry folded up the paper and calmly ate his breakfast. He turned to Luna and took a breath 'I wanted to thank you for coming to the ministry with me', he said, 'I know you didn't have to, and the fact that you trusted me enough to follow me to a restricted section of the government to chase a murderer means a lot to me. It was pretty stupid of me and I know you could have gotten hurt badly so I just wanted to apologize'. Luna looked at him, shrugged and said 'Apology accepted, I'm just sorry I couldn't find evidence of the Rotfang conspiracy'.

Harry stared at her, he quickly composed himself and said 'That's okay then, where's Neville?'.

'In the greenhouses, he said he needed to calm down after he learned that….._that woman_ was in the hospital wing' Luna replied, with a surprisingly serious tone.

'_I know how he feels'_ thought Harry, 'I'm going to go down to see him are you coming?' he asked.

Luna looked vaguely surprised at the request 'No I was talking to him earlier, I think I'll get a book from my trunk and go down to the lake, the squid is bound to be lonely this time of year.'

'Okay' Harry replied uncertainly 'If you see Ron tell him we need to talk'.

Harry excused himself and started the short trek to the greenhouses.

'Hey Neville' Harry said, he grinned as he watched the other boy jump.

Neville turned and smiled when he saw who it was, 'Hey Harry' he greeted 'feeling better? After out-duelling Voldemort, I would have though that you'd be a little more tired'

'I didn't', started Harry when Neville interrupted him, 'don't worry Professor Dumbledore explained what happened to us, I still think you did well though'.

Feeling uncomfortable Harry changed the subject, 'so what are you doing out here?' he asked.

'Oh you know, the usual, changing soil, sowing seeds, bottling up murderous rage, seriously though thanks, between the Professor and the Prophet it sounds like you got her good'.

There was no need to ask who Neville meant. After a moment of silence Neville produced a thin elaborately designed strip of wood, 'I got a new wand, cherry and unicorn hair , Gran was right proud of me when she found out about the ministry.'

'About that Neville', Harry said, 'I want to thank you for coming and to apologize for your nose and your dads wand.'.

'Don't worry about it' Neville replied 'this wand works much better and believe it or not fighting for my life was pretty exhilarating, I'm finished here, heading up?'

'_exhilarating?, it's more than that, it's intoxicating'_ After a moment Harry replied 'yeah, I think ill stay clear of the hall though, if Moody's any worse hung over than he is normally is I don't want to be anywhere near him, What happened anyway?'

'Well' , Neville replied, 'apparently Moody and Pomfrey are old …….friends.. and they had a bit of a reunion last night'

'**Moody and Pomfrey?**', Harry exclaimed incredulously, 'That's just wrong'..

The two gryffindors laughed as they walked up to the castle.

Harry and Neville were heading to the Room of Requirement for some duelling practice, when Hermione and Ginny rounded the corner ahead of them practically dragging Ron by his ears. Ron caught site of Harry and dug his heels in crossing his arms defiantly.

Harry sighed and walked up to them, 'Hermione, Ginny how are you?, you didn't stay for long at breakfast, and Ron I must say I'm wondering why you upped and swept out of the hall, you reminded me a little of Snape'.

Ron flushed in anger and muttered something unintelligible. Hermione let out a growl of frustration and said, 'If you two aren't old enough to work this out between you then you're both idiots', with that she stalked away presumably in the direction of the library. Harry stared after her, _'what did I do? It'd this idiot who's jealous',_ he took a breath and said 'So Ron, what's this sulking about?',

Ron let out a sudden growl, 'You want to know what it's about _mate?, _it's about you! It's always about you. The bloody wonderful Harry Potter can do no wrong can he? You're rich, famous, a skilled Quidditch player, Triwizard champion and apparently the bloody chosen one !!!. You know what really bugs me though? I'm the better of us and do I ever get any credit? NO!!!! I'm a better duellist than you and whenever anybody brings me up in a conversation somebody always turns it back to HARRY BLOODY POTTER!!!!', Ron's voice suddenly lowered and took on a mocking quality as he stared at Harry defiantly, 'oh look it's poor Harry and his weird sidekick, oh look it's poor Harry, he lost his parents how sad', Ron dropped the mocking tone and continued his rant, 'you're parents died and all you've ever done is benefit from it ,you make me sick'.

Throughout the rant Harry surprised himself by keeping remarkably calm. Unfortunately Ron's final words broke the dam on Harry's emotions.

'I make you sick?, you're the one with the family, You're the one bitching about how terrible your life is compared to mine. Let me ask you a question.', at this Harry's words grew cold and he saw a flicker of doubt flash across the conviction set on Ron's face, 'do you really think you're stronger than me?, would you care to find out?'.

Ron took a look at Harry's face which was shaking with rage and set himself, he told himself that he couldn't back out now so in a moment of arrogance and foolishness he said 'Yes'.

Harry smiled, drew his wand and bowed formally.

Ron drew his wand, ignored the bow and screamed '_Expelliarmus'_

Harry calmly sidestepped the spell and cast _'Reducto'_

'_Protego'_ Ron roared, and dodged as it tore through his shield, he quickly regained his balance and cast _'Incarcerous'_

Harry smiled and whispered _'incendio'_, the magical ropes burned en-route and a light ash sprinkled over Harry who had had an idea and quickly cast _'arachnasortia'_ , hundreds of tiny spiders burst forth from Harry's wand covering the lanky redhead.

Ron panicked and screamed out a _'Flipendo' _jinx which Harry calmly countered. An evil grin formed on Harry's face as he watched his former friend panic, 'Do you concede?', he asked, in response Ron threw a _Furnunculus _jinx that Harry deflected. He thought about it for a moment and figured that Ron would deserve anything he got. He aimed his wand and roared _'confringo'_. The blast of light left his wand at an alarmingly high speed, ripped through Ron's feeble _Protego _and blasted him clean of his feet and into the far wall of the corridor.

He turned and for the first time since the duel began noticed the presence of Neville and Ginny. Ginny paled and ran down the corridor while Neville looked on Ron with a grim satisfaction. Harry turned and inspected the body he had deposited against the wall and noticed that he had broken Ron's leg. He knelt down beside the whimpering redhead and whispered 'Our friendship is over'.

He and Neville continued on towards the Room of Requirement as if nothing had happened, but try as he might Harry could not shake that elated feeling he got when he sent Ron flying, the same feeling he had experienced while cursing Bellatrix.


	4. deliberations

A/N: This chapter took a little longer than normal, but that might be due to the fact that I've been temporarily blinded in one eye! Thanks for the reviews. This story is based on Harry's fight with his darker tendencies which have been partially released with the death of Sirius.

**Deliberations**

Sweating, tired and hungry, Harry and Neville made their way to the great hall for dinner. Neville was talking about some "exiting discovery" concerning plants in the Amazon, but Harry was too buried in his own thoughts to take much notice.

Although the duel had allowed him to release a lot of his anger towards Ron, he still felt as though it was fairly important that he find the lanky git and break the other leg……and maybe an arm or two.

Harry frowned "_who does the prat think he is"._

Although Harry was disturbed by Ron's behaviour he was more disturbed by his own feelings towards the situation. He knew that it had been coming for a while now, Ron just simply refused to grow up with everyone else, he felt that it was his right to be recognized as better than those around him. Harry felt his anger flare and once again marvelled in the feeling that hurting Ron had given him. He recognized his train of thought and immediately tried to implement the little occlumency that he knew. It didn't work.

Harry tried to figure out Ginny's reaction. The duel had probably been a major conflict of interests for her. Despite what people thought, Harry wasn't oblivious to Ginny's feelings for him, he just didn't want a relationship with a girl whose father read her bedtime stories about him.

It was really quite creepy.

Apart from the fact that she shared certain aspects of Ron's character, jealousy, a terrible temper and at times thick-headedness, she was different from her brother in many ways, for example she had more facial hair, while Ron whining that he should have a beard by now was a source of amusement in the boys dormitory, Ginny's fine ginger moustache was anything but.

Harry shivered and once again switched his line of thought. Hermione. It was a well known fact that Ron wanted her. Whether or not she returned his feelings were a bit of a mystery. At times it was almost like they were flirting with one another, but then again, outside Harry and Ron, Hermione had no real male friends, perhaps she was playing it safe. Once she found out about the duel she would be insufferable.

If she sided with him, all the better.

If she sided with Ron……well he didn't have time to be dragging around dead weight, It was war and if she wanted to spend her life dispensing babies at the rate of a Burmese sweatshop then that was her choice.

He was brought back from his musings when they reached the doors of the great hall. Harry braced himself to face the consequences of the earlier duel. While he wasn't afraid of her, the last thing he wanted was to face Molly Weasley in a rage. She could be quite annoying and he felt a rather strong headache coming on.

As he strode into the hall he noticed that the overbearing woman was nowhere in sight. Sitting at the expanded dinner table were Professors Dumbledore, McGonagall, Flitwick, Bathsheba, Vector and Snape. Luna was sitting at the table vigorously shaking a copy of the Quibbler with an expression of distaste on her face. The Weasleys, Hermione and the three Aurors who were present at breakfast were nowhere to be found.

He and Neville at down beside Luna ignoring the baleful stares that Snape was shooting there way. Luna murmured a greeting and refocused on the task at hand. Harry and Neville shared a look, shrugged and turned their attention back to the table.

"Ah Harry, feeling better today I hope?" asked Dumbledore jovially.

Harry was about to respond when Snape cut him off, "He must be headmaster, if he is fit to break school rules by duelling in the corridors than I daresay he has improved".

Harry returned the older man's sneer with equal intensity "What type of arsehole are you Snape?, school's not in session, surely even you aren't thick enough to forget that, I would have thought that a telltale sign would be the distinct lack of a student body. I'm comforted that we have a spy of your unique intelligence within Voldemort's ranks" Harry replied sarcastically.

Snape paled with rage and opened his mouth to respond angrily but Dumbledore silenced him with a sharp look. The whole table save for Luna and McGonagall were looking at he and Snape with interest. Luna was still writhing with her magazine and McGonagall was looking at Harry with a shocked expression.

Dumbledore stood and motioned them over to one side. He waved his hand and Harry assumed that he had thrown up a privacy charm.

"Harry, Severus", Dumbledore started, "I have put up with your squabbling long enough. You will learn to speak cordially with one another or hold your tongues. Harry, while the likelihood of you ever naming a child after Severus is quite slim I ask you now to refrain from insulting him any further."

"I am also aware of you impromptu duel with Ronald Weasley. While young Ginevra has informed us of the situation and we are aware of mister Weasleys unacceptable comments, I would urge you not to duel frivolously against others. He has insulted your honour and as school is not in session it would be inappropriate to punish you, but I would ask you to try and mend the rift that has occurred between you, Minerva is quite displeased.".

"Severus, if you cannot put aside your loathing of the Potter name long enough to hold a civil conversation, I will have to take further measures, I have enough complaints about you on record to justify an immediate dismissal from your post and enough evidence against you to ensure that you maintain you role as spy for the order. This bickering will end now" Dumbledore finished heatedly.

Neville looked on in curiosity. He could see Dumbledore talking but he couldn't hear a thing with the privacy charm interfering. He watched as Harry's face darkened and he saw him mutter something that looked like "easy pastas" and something else that he was sure was "not bloody likely". As Dumbledore's rant went on he also noted that Snape had lost the little colour that he had, and looked like he had swallowed one of Hagrid's rock cakes whole.

The three walked back to the table. Harry was muttering a string of obscenities that made Neville very aware of the real meaning of "easy pasta".

Harry sat down and struggled to suppress a variety of emotions from anger to satisfaction to shock. He had expected the talk but was surprised at it's intensity, he had never before seen Dumbledore that annoyed.

He was eating his dinner in silence while thinking of painful ways to kill the greasy bastard (castration via rusty spork being among the top suggestions) when Dumbledore interrupted him. "When you are finished Harry, I would like you to meet with me in my office to discuss…certain matters. The password is Blibbering Humdinger, I must say miss Lovegood is quite an interesting conversationalist."

Harry nodded in reply and returned to his food, barely noticing the ancient wizard leaving, with his strange deformed pet firmly in tow.

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When he was finished with his dinner Harry and Neville headed out of the Great hall, Neville in the direction of the greenhouses and Harry in the direction of Dumbledore's office, the entrance of which lay on the second floor.

Walking along the second floor corridor, still angry about Dumbledore's request that he remain friends with Ron , Harry didn't notice an ethereal form appear in front of him.

He did however notice walking through what felt like a cold shower.

"Arrrgh, Myrtle!" Harry exclaimed as he leaped backwards.

"Harry you've come back to see me! It's been so long, we haven't really spoken since your forth year and…." Myrtle trailed of when a wand materialized firmly between her eyes.

"Myrtle, I'm not in the mood today, and if you don't stop jabbering, ghostgirl or not I'll hex you into a little box and present you to peeves for his amusement"

Although it wasn't possible for Myrtle to pale her fear was evident, she tried to put on a brave face "you cant hex me I'm a ghost!" she exclaimed uncertainly.

"Are you sure? Are you willing to risk a journey into whatever sick fantasies Peeves will dream up for you?" Harry replied, a hint of a smirk on his face.

Myrtle let out a whimper and glided through a nearby wall. Harry let out a breath, he didn't think it was possible to hex Myrtle but she didn't have to know that.

Still feeling like he needed to shower, Harry made his way to the stone Gargoyle that protected the entrance to Dumbledore's office. He gave the password and vaguely wondered if the gargoyle ever got sick of the ridiculous terms that Dumbledore had chosen as passwords over the years. After all, what self respecting Gargoyle is commanded to open up to the tune of _cockroach cluster?_.

He made his way up the revolving staircase and knocked on the Headmasters door. The door swung open and he proceeded into the room. Seated around the Dumbledore's desk were the teachers that were present at dinner earlier. Babbling looked lost in thought , while Vector eyed him considering.

The ancient Headmaster motioned for Harry to take a seat and he began "Harry, Professor Babbling and Professor Vector have kindly decided that the will accept you into their classes provided you pass the fourth year exam by Christmas and you accept tutoring in both subjects."

Harry turned to the two female professors and said "eh, thanks, I probably should have taken them from third year but …well.. Thanks." after a moment he asked "so who's my tutor?"

Vector replied coolly, "Hermione Granger, has agreed to tutor you in Arithmancy, but I don't know who got top in Runes" she turned to Bathsheba questioningly.

Professor Babbling snapped out of her little trance and said cheerily "We have had a four-way tie in Runes this year, Terry Boot, Hermione Granger, Su Li and Padma Patil all share the top spot. It will come down to who has the time and who is willing to contribute it teaching you."

Professor McGonagall cut in at this point "Miss Granger has expressed an interest in teaching and I have decided to take her on for extra lessons this year. I plan to work her hard and as such I doubt she will have the time to tutor Mr Potter in two extra subjects"

Throughout the teachers discussion Harry was observing the rest of the room. He had expected Snape to have made several jibes about his intelligence by now. But the sulking vermin appeared to have been leashed. Flitwick had looked rather smug when Babbling mentioned the three Ravenclaws positions in her class, but now appeared more interested in the silver instruments on Dumbledore's desk.

Most startling was Fawkes. Harry had assumed that the phoenix would have been fully recovered from it's encounter with the killing curse, but instead it looked rather sickly. The phoenix now had a single black feather on it's breast.

Harry glanced up only to see Dumbledore looking at him expectantly, he unconsciously sat up a little straighter and said "sorry Professor, what was that?"

A flicker of annoyance passed across Dumbledore's face, " I asked you if you were sure in you decision to give up Quidditch and normal lessons this year to accommodate your new schedule, if you do it will effectively mean that you will have three regular classes, Defence, Runes and Arithmancy."

"Oh yeah, I'm okay with that. I'll miss Quidditch but I'm hardly going to stop Voldemort…" Harry became conscious that there were people he didn't fully trust in the room and modified his sentence accordingly "…from killing me with a broom and some canary creams am I?"

Dumbledore caught the hesitation and nodded approvingly, "well" he announced happily "you will report to my office tomorrow after breakfast to begin your training. Professor Flitwick has agreed to lend a hand where needed. You may go now, I have arranged for you to have your own room for the time being. At the dead end corridor past the portrait of Izichial Smith on the fifth floor you will find a small bust in the form of a hippogriff. I have set it to recognise you, just bow before it and it will open. Good evening Harry.

"Thank you professor" Harry rose, nodded to the other Professors and left to find a room all the while wondering how he was supposed to know who "Izichial Smith" was.

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"Well, what is your assessment of him?" Dumbledore asked Babbling and Vector cordially.

The Arithmancy teacher, a young witch in her forties replied first after a moments hesitation "I think he shows potential. He has a keen mind…" interrupted by an amused snort from Snape, she glared and carried on "he covered his little slip nicely and was observing his surroundings in depth. He seems to be quite conservative though"

Dumbledore replied sadly "Harry can be hesitant in making friends, he has recently learned that absolute trust cannot be given freely, who will you have tutoring him Bathsheba?"

The short Runes teacher took a moment and replied slowly "I think that he will not mesh well with Terry, he can be a bit….egotistical sometimes. Ideally it would be Hermione but Minerva has already ruled that out. It has to be either Su or Padma and I'm inclined to believe that Padma is the better choice. She is a bit more…sociable than Su."

"Well then, if Miss Patil agrees then it is settled, I will see you all at breakfast, Severus stay behind please. We must talk about other issues." Dumbledore rose and saw the staff members out, wishing that he did not feel so nervous around the young man he had sworn to train.

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Harry was wandering the fifth floor trying to find his rooms. He was growing increasingly annoyed, to the point of aiming a kick at the statue of Boris the Bewildered when he turned a corner and crashed headlong into Hermione. He helped her up only to receive a rather painful slap in the face.

"What the hell did you think you were doing? You broke Ron's leg! What did he do to deserve that? He told me wehat happened, you attacked him from the blue! Of course Ginny would stand up for you wouldn't she, she's obsessed! He was a little upset that you get all the glory in the papers, so? Isn't he entitled to a little recognition? Why in the middle of a conversation about you drifting away from us do you start hexing him? You are entitled to grieve for Sirius but putting your best friend in hospital is just….wrong." Hermione finished her rant looking and sounding out of breath. Her cheeks were flushed with rage.

Throughout her little speech Harry was desperately trying to refrain himself from cursing her too. He eventually calmed enough to respond, "I think I valid reason, wouldn't you? He was the one who accused me of playing up to my fame, who declared he was deserving of the life I lead, he thinks it's all sunshine and roses, he thinks it's all knickers in the post and marriage proposals, He thinks that I PLAY UP TO THE FACT THAT I'M AN ORPHEN!" Harry's voice dropped to an icy cold growl as he loomed over Hermione. "He's fucking welcome to it all, but no matter what happens the only words that I will ever speak to him again will be magical in nature and highly illegal. If you believe him over me then I'm down two former friends in a day. Make your choice. Believe the shit he feed's you if you want

With that Harry strode down the hall leaving a speechless Hermione Granger in his wake, desperately trying to hold back the barrage of curses that were forming on his lips. He rounded a corner and spotted the hippogriff. He stalked over, bowed quickly and made his way up the staircase that the bust revealed when it hopped aside.

Harry's room was nothing short of luxurious. A large circular room decked in Royal blue. A large four poster stood off across from the entrance. A beautifully carved desk stood at the side of the room.

He walked over to the window, and looked out over the lake and the forest. He saw a large tree suddenly ripped out of the ground and smiled as he recognised the bobbing skull of Grawp striding through the forest.

Harry turned around and flopped back on the bed. That night he dreamed a happy dream. Grawp and Voldemort were playing table tennis. Using Snape as the ball.


	5. Rendezvous

**Rendezvous **

Harry awoke the next morning in a very good mood. He was finally about to get the training he needed to give him half a chance against Voldemort, he had his own personal study room, and he had just spent half the night watching a very underrated sport.

He rose from his bed and in the process of getting dressed he noticed that he had his own fireplace.

'_I wonder if it's connected to the floo'_ he thought absentmindedly.

He finished with his morning rituals and descended the staircase leading up to his room, after passing the stone hippogriff, he turned the corner and headed for breakfast. He threw open the doors to the great hall and glanced at the occupants. The Weasleys, minus Ron, were seated at the table along with Hermione and the teachers.

As he drew a chair to sit down, a conflicted looking Molly Weasley suddenly tried to start a conversation with him.

"I'm sorry that you couldn't come to the burrow this year for your birthday, Harry, but it was for your own good." the stout witch said pleadingly, "you must be angry but I really think you should patch things up with Ronald. We all know how rash he can be but it's not his fault, I think those horrible things from the department of mysteries must be responsible"

For a second, Harry started to doubt his choice regarding Ron, but only for a second. He ruthlessly cast aside those doubts, after all, this wasn't the first time this had happened Since he had won the Quidditch cup Ron was slowly turning into a complete prick.

"I'm sorry Mrs. Weasley, but it goes beyond that" Harry replied civilly.

She looked like she was about to argue, but surprisingly a glare from Ginny shut her up.

Harry looked around the table, the teachers were talking amongst themselves, and Hermione was quietly playing with her food looking quite stressed.

'_Good',_ thought Harry '_she's back to thinking at least'._

Not wanting to risk being drawn into a conversation about Ron by one of the three women, Harry picked up a few pieces of toast and headed for Dumbledore's office.

He gave the password and the gargoyle dutifully moved aside. 'He didn't know what to expect as he ascended the stairs to the headmaster's office. For all he knew, the headmaster could begin by teaching him the rules of cricket. Nobody needs to know the rules of cricket. Ever.

Harry knocked on the door and heard the headmaster reply. He took a breath and braced himself before walking in. Dumbledore was standing in the centre of the office, apparently chatting with one of the portraits. The old wizard raised his wizened head and waved him in. "Good morning Harry. I wish to have a chat with you before we begin", the headmaster sat down in his chair and motioned Harry to do the same.

'_Brilliant',_ thought Harry '_another fucking chat. This is just what I was hoping to avoid'._

He sat down and the old wizard started, "Harry, have you been having any strange dreams of late?" Dumbledore sounded worried, which was strange enough that it made Harry worry as well.

"No sir, just regular dreams. To be honest, I thought that they'd get worse now that he doesn't have to hide in the shadows any more", Harry replied cautiously.

The old man sighed "Harry, thankfully he has not gotten worse. Yet. He has been unusually quiet, and to be frank, it worries me. I see two possibilities. He could be exhausted and fragile from the backlash he received while possessing you, or he could be biding his time planning a large scale attack. Unfortunately, I am inclined to believe the latter.

Harry fidgeted in his chair. If the headmaster was right, then it could mean trouble.

Dumbledore continued, "The main problem with this, Harry, is that people are starting to believe that there will not be a second war after all. Indeed, several sympathisers have called for a full pardon in regards to Voldemort, claiming that he repents his past sins." 

Harry scoffed, "That bastard will never repent. He'll probably have them killed for suggesting it."

"Unfortunately, you are right Harry. For the moment, however, that does not concern us. I must ask you to keep a very tight hold on your temper this year. You will be learning some very advanced magic, and I do not want to risk the welfare of the other students if you are unable to cope with your newly resurgent fan-club," the old wizard had that damnable twinkle in his eyes again.

_'Fucking irritating,'_ thought Harry. He didn't let his annoyance show though, and despite it being about as funny as bowel cancer, he pretended that he was also amused by the "**Harry Potter support association"**. After what had happened last year, he had thought, or at least hoped, that they were all dead and buried.

Harry realised that Dumbledore was still talking, "Professor Babbling has indicated that miss Padma Patil would be the ideal choice for your tutor this year. If she agrees, then we will devise a timetable for your sessions. Any objections?"

"Sounds alright sir", he replied. Inwardly, Harry was unsure. After all, he had ruined her Yule Ball by setting her up with Ron.

Harry grimaced, remembering Ron's behaviour that night. He himself hadn't exactly been a Knight in shining armour, but at least he had danced with his partner. Ron, on the other hand, had ignored Padma and completely ruined her night.

Yep, Harry thought, he owed her a rather large apology.

"Excellent", Dumbledore replied as he stood up, "now, I think we should start today's session by testing your knowledge of spells, follow me."

"Before we start sir, what are your plans for Bellatrix?" Harry asked calmly

"She was taken from the castle by the Aurors yesterday evening, the veritaserum had no effect, I'm inclined to believe that Voldemort had her under an oath of silence". Dumbledore replied.

Harry nodded and Dumbledore towards the staircase. Harry had assumed that they would be using an abandoned classroom, so he was surprised when the staircase went past the old stone gargoyle, and into a part of the castle he hadn't yet explored.  
When the staircase finally stopped, the two wizard's were faced with an impressive pair of ornately carved doors.

Dumbledore stepped forward and the ancient doors silently opened for him. Harry walked in the headmasters wake, taking in the room before him. It was a plain stone chamber with a large platform in the centre of the room and an ornate bookcase standing in the corner. The map never showed this.

Dumbledore saw the confusion on his face and spoke up "Not everything in the castle is shown on that remarkable map of yours Harry. This chamber is for the private use of the Headmaster or Headmistress of Hogwarts. It is fully warded to prevent spell damage. The bookcase in the corner has the same special feature that my own has, it is connected to the library".

"Well, I could see this being handy I suppose". said Harry.

Dumbledore chuckled, "Yes it does have it's uses, now aim for the far wall and demonstrate every curse, jinx, charm and hex that you know".

Harry sighed. It was going to be a long day.

What seemed like an age later, Dumbledore finally released him for the day. He had pushed Harry to the point of exhaustion, he had made him recite every spell he knew, cast them in rapid succession and put as much power as he could into them. He encouraged Harry by grimly predicting Voldemort's reign of power and the consequences if he lost. The look on the old wizards face as Harry finally battered down his shield with a confringo curse was priceless, shock and pride tinged with a little bit of fear. Where was Creevey when you needed him, eh?

As Harry was making his way to dinner by himself, the headmaster had decided to eat in his rooms, he saw Ron, with the help of a cane, heading for the Great Hall. He had to suppress a smirk as he strode around the limping Weasley, and headed for the table, easily ignoring the looks Mrs. Weasley was sending him as he filled his plate.

"So Hermione, thought anymore about our little chat?" he asked quietly.

Hermione looked up from her plate and nodded slightly, "That's why he stormed off. I thought a lot about what you said last night Harry and the fact is, I still haven't fully grasped the concept that we're at war. I know that you're right and I told Ron as much…he didn't really like it." she replied softly.

Harry nodded, "So what did he say?"

Cautiously Hermione replied, "He…erm, he said that he didn't believe me and that I'm only siding with you because of your fame".

Harry snorted, "So miss Granger, hoping to jump on the Potter bandwagon now are we?.

Hermione smiled in response, and threw a roll at him, "Prat" she muttered.

Harry grinned and got up from the table, intent on making use of the prefects bathroom while he had the chance. As he was walking through the entrance hall, Snape stumbled in . Bloody, battered and shivering, he looked like he had tried to convince the centaurs to play a game of polo. As much as Harry wanted to grin, he couldn't, he knew what Snape in this condition meant.

"Potter," Snape rasped "get me the headmaster". The black cloaked man fell to his knees, and Harry, realizing just how serious the situation was, ran.

He reached the stone gargoyle that concealed the entrance to the headmasters office, and was about to give the password, when it slid open of it's own accord revealing the Dumbledore.

"Sir," Harry gasped "Snape, he's hurt".

Dumbledore paled, "Come, Harry". The old wizard said as he hurried down the hall.

Harry followed in his wake until he reached the entrance hall. Snape was on the floor twitching. Harry stood back unsure what to do as Dumbledore cast a spell over Snape. He stood abruptly and cast _Mobilicorpus_ over Snape's prone form. As he levitated the potions masters body, he motioned for Harry to follow him.

"I promised at the end of term, that I would no longer keep you in the dark Harry," Dumbledore said "I intend to keep that promise."

Harry hid his surprise, he had honestly expected Dumbledore to keep him in the dark.

They arrived in the hospital wing and placed Snape on a bed. Madam Pomfrey bustled over and tutted as she ran diagnostic spells over Snape. She gave Dumbledore a hard glare before muttering something about "Another batch of anti-cruciatus potions."

Dumbledore sighed and turned to Harry, "Tonight, was the first death eater summons since the attack at Privet Drive. I assume that Voldemort was…displeased to hear that you are now safely behind Hogwarts wards. I just hope that the torture did not loosen Severus' mind."

Harry knew what the cruciatus curse was like, but he couldn't shake the feeling that Snape was not fully with the order in this war. At best, thought Harry, Snape was on his own side.

After Pomphrey had the potions administered and Snape was more lucid, Dumbledore bent over to whisper with him. The headmaster seemed to pale with every hurried word. Dumbledore straightened and turned to Harry, "It appears that Voldemort has organised a large scale attack for tonight, the main target will be a muggle football match in London as well as many as a dozen other small scale strikes including Diagon alley. Come with me".

Harry didn't argue, and followed Dumbledore through the halls to his office.

Harry waited next to Fawkes' perch as Dumbledore made a firecall to Grimmauld place. The phoenix was looking better today and it gave a soft trill when Harry stroked it. He was concerned about the upcoming attacks, but instead of reassurance the phoenix song delivered apprehension.

Dumbledore snapped him out of his reverie when he motioned for Harry to proceed through the floo.

Harry blinked in confusion, "You want me to come, sir?"

Dumbledore frowned "I told you that I would no longer treat you as a child Harry, I have seen a demonstration of your prowess today and I have deemed you ready, unless of course you don't wish to come?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.

Harry was taken aback, he hadn't expected Dumbledore to allow him anywhere near an attack, "Of course I do, I was just surprised". Harry replied.

Dumbledore smiled, and ushered him through the floo. Emerald flames clouded Harry's vision, and with a sickening thud, he crashed on to the drawing-room floor of Grimmauld place. Dumbledore exited smoothly behind him, with a small smile tugging at his lips at the sight of Harry deposited on the floor.

Peter Pettigrew was having a good day. Actually, he had been having a good couple of weeks, but today really topped it off. After the failure in the department of Mysteries, he had assumed more of Lucius's responsibilities within the death eaters. Since Bellatrix's capture, the Dark Lord had depended on him more and more. Which was why he was standing in the shadows, of Knockturn alley ready to lead the attack on Diagon Alley.

The massive, golden clock of Gringotts chimed eight' o'clock. Wormtail raised his hood, and gave the signal to Travers to begin. The two groups converged in the centre of Knockturn Alley, and marched towards Diagon Alley, easily dispatching the two Auror guards. As Travers sent the first killing curse into the throngs of shoppers, Wormtail sighed, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. The golden days were back.

"Avada Kedavra" he roared.


End file.
